A Saturday afternoon showdown against perennial section roadblock Marshall proved to be a challenging contest once again as the St. Peter girls basketball team played the Tigers for the second time in eight days. The Saints, having earned the 60-49 win in Marshall last Friday, had the opportunity to complete the regular season sweep and despite several key players struggling through illness, St. Peter earned the 58-52 victory.
“We definitely did not play our best basketball, but props to Marshall, they came out tough and they were ready for us,” said Rhyan Holmgren after the win. “They definitely had some hatred against us, I would say, just from last time and over the years. So them for coming out in a good defense really gave us some problems, but overall, we’re out super proud of our team.”
With the win, the Saints improved to a record of 21-1 (7-0 BSE) on the season while the Tigers fell to 18-5 (8-0 BSW).
In the opening minutes, the game was completely in favor of St. Peter who built a 14-1 lead after a pair of Annika Southworth free throws went through. But Marshall would claw back, never completely falling out of the game with short stretches of simple 5-2 or 4-2 runs that eventually made their mark.
A Holmgren jumper as the buzzer sounded to end the first half gave the Saints a 28-12 lead.
In the second half, clean looks from beyond the arc for St. Peter routinely fell just short and off the iron, a sign of the fatigue and illness effecting the team, and Marshall continued to claw back into the game, cutting the Saints lead to 45-40 with just under five minutes remaining after draining a three.
“I believe in them a hundred percent,” said Holmgren in regards to the team’s outside sharpshooters. “We had one bad shooting night, but it’s gonna happen everyone. Shooters go through that, but just they’re really good at getting to the next shot and believing the next shot’s gonna go in.”
With St. Peter holding a 53-48 lead and just under a minute remaining, the front end of a one-and-one for the Saints rimmed out, but Abby Maloney hauled in the rebound and was fouled going back to the hoop, granting another opportunity to extend the lead.
When it came down to the execution of critical inbounds plays and hitting free throws in the final seconds, the Saints proved up to the task, securing the 58-52 victory.
“We haven’t had that many close games, just a few overtime games, but we’ve always stayed super composed in those situations,” said Holmgren. “I think we’ve had a lot more experience from last year, which is why we’re coming out with these wins, but we practice those situations a lot too.”
Holmgren finished the night with 20 points and nine rebounds while Southworth added 18 points and four rebounds.
After facing Waseca Tuesday, the Saints will return to the hardwood Thursday, Feb. 15, when they travel to Mound Westonka to battle the White Hawks. Tipoff is scheduled for 7 p.m.
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